Hello,
I started experiencing facial pain during a bout of what my doctor said was Labyrinthis (viral inner ear infection that followed the flu) in January of this year. I've got from doing triathlons and running daily to barely being able to run a 5k.

The facial pain started as non-localized. I kept holding my cheek/eye area and saying that my head hurt. Then it localized to just below my eye...along my cheek bone. I assumed it was sinus related. Then I had 2 episodes where the pain was unbearable.

Advil takes the pain away, but I need to take it every 5 hours. I read that pain meds don't typically work on TN?

Also, it feels good to put pressure on it - so I push on my cheek bone alot when it's flaring up. I read that pressure can trigger TN? But this isn't the case for me.

I thought it was going away, as I"ve been off advil for a few weeks. The past 3 days, however, the pain is back. I'm going to have to start taking advil again. It's now a sharp pain in my jaw - that burns along my cheekbone and the bottom part of my nose. Only on the left side.

Dentist said xrays look fine and no TMJ.

Neurologist said atypical TN. MRI is normal. There is a 'questionable' area that he said he can look into more on the MRA...but it looks normal. He said that if the pain returns, he would do a thinner cut on the MRA in a spot that might look like a potential loop. But, when I returned for the follow up...I told him the pain was gone. Unfortunately it's back.

Does this sound like TN to you? Why does advil and pushing on it help...when everything I have read says that it shouldn't? Is this because it's aTypical TN?

I'm scared, because everything I have read said that it only gets worse. I didn't take the Neurontin, because I was managing it fine with Advil and I didn't want to believe the diagnosis.

Any help or input is appreciated.

Thank you!